The Secret to Perfect Cupcake Cones

I know you've seen them....You may have even made them.  I know I tried making cupcake cones a few years ago and ended up with a bunch of lopsided, or half empty soggy, chewy cones that did not even resemble an ice cream cone.  Well,  this week was my daughter had a small birthday party (she turns 5 on the 15th) and I was determined to get these right for her.....so I got a little creative and the results were perfect!

First, let me tell you that I usually don't work with food in my sewing studio, however, I made an exception this time because (sadly) I made these at 4am in the morning and everyone was asleep - I didn't want to wake them by banging around in the kitchen.  Since my studio is in the basement, nobody could hear me!

What You Will Need to Make the Cupcakes:

• CUPCAKES (I made mine from a box mix, although I was tempted to make some from a Joy The Baker Recipe, I didn't feel like a bunch of 5 yr olds would appreciate the difference and I really didn't want to eat all the leftovers)
• FROSTING
• M&Ms
• ICE CREAM CONES (flat bottomed)

What You Will Need to Transport Them:

• EGG CARTON (one for every 6 cupcakes)
• FOIL
• SHARP KNIFE or EXACTO BLADE 

DIRECTIONS:
Bake your cupcakes as usual, making sure to fill the cupcake cup only 2/3 of the way so when they cook they don't explode over the sides.  Although we all love those large tops, they won't work well for this project!  Let them cool completely.

Fill each cone with a handful of M&Ms - This acts as a weight to prevent your cones from tipping - it also adds a wonderful surprise (the kids LOVED this)

Put a layer of icing around the bottom of the cupcake - this will act as the glue to hold the cupcake in the cone

Place the cupcake in the cone with a slight twist to get it in snugly

Ice around the side of the cupcake 

(I found using my finger worked best to do this - no licking!)

Ice the top of the cupcake and decorate as desired

Place in holder (see below)

CREATING THE HOLDER:  Transporting these babies can be a bit difficult so I made this "holder" which worked perfectly.

Take an egg carton (you will need one for every 6 cupcakes) and create 6 square holes (in a checkerboard pattern) that will fit the bottom of the cone.  Make sure that the holes are big enough to get the cone in, but are not too big so the cones move around.  You need a snug fit. 

Cover the egg carton in foil and push the foil through the holes

I cut an 'X' in each hole and then pushed the foil through

Carefully push the cones into the holes one by one being careful not to crush the cones

Between the weight of the M&Ms and the snug fit of the egg carton, these guys will stay put.

I let the icing dry for about 2 hours and then placed the egg cartons in a large box with some bubble wrap to prevent them from moving.  They survived a car ride without incident!